Archive for March, 2008

Have you Created your Pastafarianism section yet?

By Nora O'Neill • Mar 27th, 2008 • Category: Brick and Mortar Thoughts

Pastafarians take note, finally your own section in a bookstore!
Lots of bookstores have a Christian fiction section. However, in some areas it may be a good idea to have a section devoted to another religion rather than lumping it into the “other” section. Often you’ll see sections devoted to Judaism, Buddhism, Islam, or general “eastern religions”.



Is the world ready for The Book Spider?

By Tom Nealon • Mar 23rd, 2008 • Category: News & Opinions

Clicks and bricks, bricks and clicks - people throw these around, and they
are certainly descriptive of a business that operates both real world and
virtual stores, but what they lack in practice is a true synergy between
the businesses. I know for our shop that we’re really just running two
largely parallel businesses out of the same location.



Some Final Thoughts from Sir Arthur C. Clarke - 1917-2008

By Bruce K. Hollingdrake • Mar 20th, 2008 • Category: News & Opinions

As many of you know the world of literature (one of the many worlds he occupied) lost a legendary figure this month when Sir Arthur C. Clarke passed away. In January he gave an interview from his hospital room in Sri Lanka.
Clark smiled. “I’m often asked when I think the space […]



The Golden Age of the Illustrated Book

By Dana Richardson • Mar 19th, 2008 • Category: Books & Mags

The most liberal identification of the time frame for the Golden Age of the Illustrated Book is from 1865 till the beginning of World War II. And while not all illustrated books of this age were children’s books, it definitely delineates the high end collectible for this genre.



Yes, I know what a Dust Jacket is…

By Larissa Swayze • Mar 16th, 2008 • Category: News & Opinions

My recent trip to a tropical destination was supposed to be an intellectual quest of sorts. Read some books about books; come up with “The Plan”. Of course, what ended up happening was a lot of staring blankly out into the ocean and drinking free Brahma…



Does your competitor buy the good books just before you arrive?

By Scott Davis • Mar 15th, 2008 • Category: Work Smarter

Scoping Out the Competition (Or Working Smarter, Not Harder)
Like most of you, I have responsibilities other than my online book selling gig, including a full-time job, wife, yard work, etc., that limit what I call my “book time.” But, also like most of you, I face ever increasing competition from other sellers scouting for […]



Going for an actual Guinness Record!

By Bruce K. Hollingdrake • Mar 14th, 2008 • Category: News & Opinions

This Saturday, here at Colette’s:
Good Food + Hungry Minds, we’re attempting to set
a Guinness World Record for ‘the most romances
sold in one business day by a brick and mortar
independent bookstore.’ And we don’t even sell
romances.



Can Independent Book Dealers Benefit From ‘Print on Demand’?

By Elizabeth Grant-Gibson • Mar 12th, 2008 • Category: News & Opinions

In December 2007, Ingram’s Lightning Source printed 1.2 million units. Yes, that’s million. The average print run was 1.8 copies. The average turnaround time was 12 hours. Now, I know that lots of us have gripes about Ingram, particularly when an order doesn’t happen quite the way we think it should.



Using the Keyword tool in Google AdWords

By Nora O'Neill • Mar 10th, 2008 • Category: Marketing Ideas

The Keyword Tool in AdWords helps you refine your existing Keywords for your ads or find new ones. Log in to your account and click on a campaign. On the Keywords tab you’ll find a link to the Keyword tool.

You have three options use; descriptive words or phrase, website content, and existing […]



Some tips for ad image design

By Nora O'Neill • Mar 7th, 2008 • Category: Marketing Ideas

Timing is everything
If you’ve looked at advertising through banner ads, the thought of using an animated ad has probably crossed your mind. Or maybe you’ve seen some cool animated icons on forums and you want one of your own. You can pack more info into an animated image than you can into a static […]